Conveyor system for viscous or cementitious material

ABSTRACT

An adaptable, flexible conveyor system is provided which employs material carrying continuous belt pick-up, conveyor-transfer and turret sections. A transfer assembly is pivotally-carried between the forward end of one conveyor section and the tail end of a cooperating conveyor section to which the material is to be delivered, and a scraper assembly is carried by the forward end of the one conveyor section within the transfer assembly for removing adhering material from the belt adjacent a head pulley. A combination scraper means is provided for cleaning an underside of a belt and the exposed side of a drive pulley at the tail end of each conveyor section which has its own individual drive unit that has a swing grate mounting to facilitate adjustment of belt tension and replacement of the belt.

United States Patent Gorgei et al.

1 1 Oct. 23, 1973 CONVEYOR SYSTEM FOR VISCOUS OR CEMENTITIOUS MATERIAL of Pa.

Assignee:

Ellwood City, Pa.

Filed: Nov. 30, 1971 Appl. No.: 203,167

Related US. Application Data Beaver-Advance Corporation,

Division of Ser. No. 858,384, Sept. 16, 1969, Pat.

1,157,295 11/1955 France 198/192 A 1,265,652 4/1968 Germany 198/230 1,139,067 10/1962 Germany 198/192 A 721,704 1/1955 Great Britain 198/127 R Primary Examiner-Richard E. Aegerter Attorney-Green, McCallister & Miller [57] ABSTRACT An adaptable, flexible conveyor system is provided which employs material carrying continuous belt pick up, conveyor-transfer and turret sections. A transfer assembly is pivotally-carried between the forward end of one conveyor section and the tail end of a cooper- 521 U.S. c1 198/92, 198/44, 198/192 atihg conveyor Section to which the material is to be 51' 1111. c1. B65g 37/00, B65g 47/00 delivered, and a Scraper assembly is Carried y the [58] Field of Search 198/192, 65, 192 A, Ward end of the one conveyor Section Within the n 9 43, 9 27 193/35 R fer assembly for removing adhering material from the belt adjacent a head pulley. A combination scraper 5 References Cited means is provided for cleaning an underside of a belt UNITED STATES PATENTS and the exposed side of a drive pulley at the tail end of each conveyor section which has its own individual gleeson drive unit that has a swing grate mounting to facilitate 3 610 387 10/1971 51:11 iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii R adjustment of belt tension and replacement of the FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,030,174 Great Britain 198/192 19 Claims, Drawing Figures g F k 21 il/Fw 202/; 203 [as [9419 J. g N U? 2 I a; U 2 204 J K M5 k 200 A" ME //7 /v- //7z 1 -j- Y k J 1 Zi m m J (g /67 m r m A PAIENIEllucI 23 Ian SHEET t 0F 8 PAIENIEnncI 23 ms SHEET 5 [1F 8 PATENIEDUBT 23 I975 SHEET G [If 8 CONVEYOR SYSTEM FOR VISCOUS OR CEMENTITIOUS MATERIAL CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a division of our co-pending U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 858,384, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,656,607 of Apr. 18, 1972, entitled Conveyor System for Viscous or Cementitious Material filed Sept. 16, 1969.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention pertains to a new and improved apparatus construction for receiving viscous or flowable material such as cementitious material or grout from a suitable supply for effecting efficient delivery of the material without waste and in a suitable pouring condition at any number of suitable locations to conform with and cover a work area and for facilitating belt replacement.

2. Description of the Prior Art There has been a need for an improved system for receiving, transferring and delivering material and particularly cementitious material or grout at work locations, such as a construction location for a commercial building, a manufacturing plant, a bridge, etc. Such a system must handle the materials expeditiously while minimizing loss or waste during handling and without adversely affecting its desired condition for usage at a particular work area and while, at the same time, enabling a highly flexible adaptation of apparatus of the system to meet variously located work areas and facilitate immediate and easy movement of its delivery or turret end by a workman. An important need has been to provide improved means for removing the material at the head end of a transfer or turret delivery section which will permit continuous operation of the system without stoppage or frequent maintenance, will facilitate the replacement of continuous belts, and willprovide apparatus that is not only flexible from the standpoint of its work position adaptation, but from the standpoint of its utilization in the system and of its adaptation to movable as well as stationary mounting or support means.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It has thus been an object of the invention to provide new and improved apparatus for conveying grout or cementitious-like material;

Another object has been to devise improved means for transferring the material between cooperating ends of a pair of continuous conveyor sections, and for facilitating assembly and disassembly of its parts;

A still further object has been to provide a new and improved mounting of motor drive means and cooperating driven pulley means for a continuous conveyor belt within a tail end portion of a conveyor section to facilitate replacement of the belt;

These and other objects of the invention will appear to those skilled in the art from the embodiments disclosed and described.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a reduced side elevation illustrating apparatus constructed and assembled in accordance with the invention for conveying cement in viscous form from a truck or tractor delivery point along a transferconveyor section or sections to a turret section or assembly; this view shows the turret assembly provided with its conveyor-delivery section;

FIG. 1A is a further reduced view in side elevation illustrating a three section transfer conveyor frame construction employed with a pick-up section and the turret and delivery or feed section of FIG. 1 to provide a system employing the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a typical transfer conveyor frame or section on the scale of FIG. 1 and illustrating a driven belt-actuating pulley, a drive motor and a back end or tail mount wherein the motor may be swung out to facilitate replacement of a continuous conveyor belt that is omitted for the purpose of clarity;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged vertical end section taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2, with the drive motor and driven pulley means removed to particularly illustrate the side mount construction for carrying them at the tail end of the conveyor frame;

FIG. 3A is an end section in elevation on the scale of FIG. 3 and taken along the line 3A3A of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an isometric view in elevation on the scale of FIG. 3, particularly illustrating the drive pulley of FIG. 2, a removable top cover plate for the driven tail end of the conveyor frame or section, and a vertical splash plate interposed between the driven pulley and the drive motor;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged vertical end section taken in the direction of the line 55 of FIG. 2 and particularly illustrating a typical construction of flexible, U-shaped or troughing, belt-supporting pulley or wheel assemblies that are employed in a longitudinally-spaced relation along the conveyor sections or frames of the apparatus; it also shows cross bracing and an underpositioned idler, belt-return pulley;

FIG. 6 is an end fragment in elevation on an enlarged scale with respect to FIG. 5, particularly illustrating the construction and mounting of centrally-disposed belt carrying pulleys; it shows spiral tension spring means for resisting turning movement of the pulley bearing inner races on their flexible cable mounting shaft;

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6 illustrating the construction of a modified type of pulley mounting that uses resilient or elastic tubing instead of springs for providing resistance to rotation;

FIG. 7A is a reduced view similar to FIGS. 6 and 7 showing a pulley mounting that uses additional caster pulleys or wheels instead of elastic tubing or springs;

FIG. 8 is a side view in elevation on the scale of FIGS. 5 to 7 particularly illustrating a side rail wheel assembly or unit that is employed for longitudinaIly-adjustably mounting a side channel member of a conveyor section or frame with respect to a support or a floor stand;

FIG. 9 is an end fragment in elevation and partial section on the scale of FIG. 8 and taken along the line 9-9 of such figure;

FIG. 10 is a side view in elevation and partial section of a funnel that may be used at a forward or delivery end of a conveyor section to deliver material to the tail end of another section and used at the forward or delivery end of a turret section to deliver'material to the work area;

FIG. 11 is an isometric view in elevation on the same scale as FIG. 12 illustrating a transfer hopper of an end transfer or delivery assembly between a pair of conveyor sections for cooperating with a transfer funnel of the construction illustrated in FIG. 10 to receive material therefrom and apply or deliver the material to the conveyor belt at the tail end of a forward conveyor section, see FIGS. 1 and 1A;

FIG. 12 is a side isometric view of a receiving hopper which may be utilized as a part of the system for receiving the material from a truck, cement mixer or other suitable source for delivery on the conveyor belt at a tail end of a conveyor section for feed or transfer to a suitable work area, see FIG. 1A;

FIG. 13 is a fragmental detail in elevation on an enlarged scale with reference to FIG. 11, taken crosswise ortransversely with respect to a conveyor section to particularly illustrate the construction of an upper scraper assembly that may be mounted adjacent the delivery or forward end of one conveyor section within an upper grout scoop part of a transfer assembly to engage the upper surface of a continuous belt at its delivery end before the belt turns downwardly on its head pulley for return movement along the conveyor section;

FIG. 14 is a side section in elevation on the scale of and taken along the line l4l4 of FIG. 13; this view shows the mounting of a plastic or resin grout scoop for a transfer assembly;

FIG. 15 is a horizontal section on the scale of and taken along the line 1515 of FIG. 13 of the scraper assembly of FIGS. 13 and 14;

FIG. 16 is an end view in elevation of a horizontally rotatable support frame or turret for the apparatus shown particularly in FIG. 1;

FIG. 17 is a horizontal section on the scale of and taken along the line 17-17 of FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is an elevationin partial section taken'along the line 18l8 of FIG. 19 and illustrating an end transfer stand that may be employed with an end transfer assembly; this figure shows cooperating ring members, vertical adjusting screws, a horizontal swing frame, side-positioned wheel or roller sets and a form of bottom support stand;

FIG. 18A is a similar vertical view showing a floor support leg such as employed in the system or assembly of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 19 is a horizontal section on the scale of and taken along the line 19-19 of FIG. 18;

FIG. 19A is a fragmental vertical section on the scale of and taken along the line 19A-19A of FIG. 19;

FIG. 20 is a schematic view in elevation on the scale of FIG. 19 showing a pair of stationary floor legs of the type illustrated in FIG. 18A as employed to carry a turntable frame such as shown in FIG. 19;

FIG. 21 is an enlarged side isometric view of a mounting bracket of a transversely spaced-apart headmounted primary pair within which a spring clip (see the dot and dash lines) of a hood mount is inserted, which carry a head pulley and which suspend a front end scraper and boot assembly, see the arrow of this figure and the details of FIG.

FIG. 22 is an isometric view of a spring clip type of hood mounting or auxiliary bracket that is adapted to extend across between the pair of primary brackets of FIG. 21 and to be sprung into a latched position therebetween; see also FIG. 25;

FIG. 23 is an enlarged isometric planar underside fragment illustrating a tail scraper assembly in its mounted positioning with respect to the underside of a continuous conveyor belt adjacent to and ahead of a position at which the return flight of the belt engages a drive roller (see also FIG. 2); an inclined forward scraper member and a V-shaped rearwardly-spaeed scraper member are shown suspended to engage the inner surface of the conveyor belt before it is advanced into engagement with the driving pulley, and a fabric rubber-like transverse scraper is shown adapted to engage the exposed forward side of the pulley to keep it clean during the operation of conveying cement material;

FIG. 24 is a reduced side view in elevation taken along the line 2424 of FIG. 23;

And FIG. 25 is an enlarged side section in elevation, particularly illustrating the construction and cooperative positioning of the parts of an end transfer assembly for feeding or delivering cement or grout from the head pulley end of one conveyor section to the tail pulley end of an endwise-adjacent, second or forwardly positioned conveyor section.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In operating a system such as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 1A, grout material, viscous or somewhat fluid cement mix N to be handled is shown introduced to a first conveyor or transfer section A from a suitable source, such as represented by a chute S of a cement mixing or supply truck. The material N is shown being fed into a so-called truck hopper P that is particularly illustrated in FIG. 12. The hopper P is constructed to longitudinally centrally concentrate the delivery of the material N to a continuous conveyor belt 22 of the conveyor section A, downstream or near the tail end portion thereof, to flow in or along a concavity, central longitudinal U or valley that is defined by the belt (see FIG. 5). A pair of opposed, side-positioned fabric or reinforced rubber-like guide blades 14 are adapted to be positioned within close adjacency with the upper surface of a continuous conveyor belt 22 on opposite sides of its longitudinal valley (see also FIG. 5). Legs 23 of the frame of the hopper P are slidably-adjustably and removably positioned on side rails 11 of the conveyor section by angle-shaped feet 23a.

As shown particularly in FIG. 1A, the material received by the conveyor section A is advanced longitudinally forwardly and upwardly in a somewhat gradually inclined path towards a forward or head 'end thereof over a head pulley 57, see FIGS. 2 and 25, into a vertically disposed end transferassembly F. The transfer assembly F delivers the material, both by the advancing force exerted by the conveyor belt 22 over a head pulley 57 and by gravity, vertically-downwardly upon a tail end portion of a second conveyor or transfer section, such as B. Transfer hopper Q of FIGS. 11 and 25 has a similar purpose to the hopper P of delivering the material N along a central longitudinal path into the concavity of a conveyor belt 22.

Although three transfer-conveyor sections A, B, C are shown in FIG. 1A, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that any suitable number may be employed, depending on the distance over which the material N is to be transferred, and depending upon the location and extent of the work area to which the material is to be delivered. Stationary supports or directly mounted, inverted U-shaped, stationary floor legs G are shown in FIGS. 18, 18A, 19 and 20. The legs G may be interchangeable with a track mounting stand H, such as shown for supporting the forward end of section B and the tail end of section C in FIG. 1A. It has been found desirable to provide the leading section,

frame or unit of the system which serves as the delivery unit to the work area, in the form of a turret E having a cage or frame that carries a conveyor section D. The turret E is shown as track or rail mounted to facilitate longitudinal or in and out accommodation that, with rail mounting of the support stand H, gives the system a considerable vertical and transverse width of work area to which the material may be delivered. The delivery may be controlled for example by a workman positioned to hand-move the delivery end of the conveyor section D at its material delivery assembly I (similar to transfer assemblies F) for uniformly, or in any desired manner, progressively covering a considerable work area in any desired pattern. The flexible utilization of the delivery as effected at the assembly I is also facilitated by providing the turret E with a full 360 horizontal swingable or pivotal mounting, and with means for tilting it and the conveyor section D carried thereby in a vertical-angular relationship.

A track construction or section J, see particularly FIG. 1A is shown as having spaced-apart, inverted U- shaped support frames or upright stands R that are made up of a pair of transversely spaced-apart, upright tubular legs and an upper integrally-connected, horizontally cross-extending, tubular, connecting member.

FIGS. 2, 3, 3A and 4 illustrate a typical transferconveyor frame or section as utilized in the form of such representative units as A, B, C and D of FIG. 1A. As shown in FIG. 2, a pair of transversely spaced-apart longitudinal side rail members 11 of channel construction are provided, whose top and bottom flanges extend outwardly of the frame and guidably support sidemounted, wheeled carriages or units K, see FIGS. 8, 9, and 18, that are used for longitudinally-adjustably connecting a forward end of one transfer or conveyor section to the tail end of another section, and also in slightly modified form K, for adjustably-mounting a conveyor section D within a mounting frame or cage of turret E. The side rail members 11 are secured together in an aligned and spaced relation by suitable crossextending, reinforcing frames 12 and 13 (see FIG. 2) to provide a unitary, relatively narrow, longitudinally extending support frame. The frames 12 and 13 are shown made up of tubular members secured to the side rails 11 by rivets or bolts 13a that extend through web portions of the side rails (see FIGS. 2 and 9).

Each conveyor section A, B, C and D, see FIG. 2, is provided with a belt driving unit or assembly 15 at its tail end portion which includes an electric drive motor M,a driven main belt driving pulley or roller 27, and a tail scraper assembly L, see also FIGS. 27 and 28. As particularly illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3 and 3A, the side rail members 11 carry a slide frame at the tail end of the conveyor section, see representative section A. The slide frame has a pair of channel-shaped side members 16 that fit in a complementary manner along associated side rails 11 and a cross-extending end or tail gate channel member 18 that is removably-mounted at its ends by a pair of channel or U-shaped brackets 17 that are secured to the side members 16. Pivot-like bolt and nut assemblies 17a (see FIG. 3A) enable the gate member to be disconnected at either of its ends by removing one bolt and nut assembly to swing inwardly and outwardly on the other bolt and nut assembly. The side members 16 serve to both mount the motor M and the driven pulley 27. The side members 16 of the tail gate or secondary frame mount the pulley 27 through the agency of a pair of mounting brackets 25, and the motor M through the agency of the gate member 18. A group of angle pieces 19 are secured in a longitudinally spaced relation on and along the bottom flange of each member 16 to guidably-endwise-slidably position the tail gate frame in cooperation with pairs of upper, angle-shaped, angle brackets 20. It will be noted that the angle pieces 19 have an upturned flange 19a and that the angle brackets 20 have downturned flanges 20a to cooperate with up and down turned flange end portions of the side rails 11.

The motor M (see FIG. SA) has a base plate 18a secured thereto by bolts 18b, and the base plate 18a is, in turn, removably secured somewhat centrally on and to extend inwardly from the tail gate member 18 by bolts 18c. The motor M, has a sprocket 31 (see FIG. 2) which is connected through a drive chain 30 to a drive sprocket 29 that is mounted on one end of the driving pulley 27 for actuating it. Endwise removal of continuous belt 22 from a longitudinally extending operating position on the frame of the transfer section A shown in FIG. 2 and thus, endwise-off driving pulley 27, as well as off idler head roller or pulley 57 is facilitated. This is easily accomplished by removing one of the nut and bolt assemblies 17a to thus pivot the tail gate member 18 about the end of one of the members 16 and an associated side rail 11 to enable the gate 18, as well as the motor M to be slightly swung radially inwardly to remove the chain 30 from its sprocket, and to thereafter move the motor M outwardly, as indicated by the dot and dash lines of FIG. 2, out of the way. At this time, an old belt 22 can be slid endwise off idler head pulley or roller 57, off driven pulley or roller 27, and removed from one side of the conveyor frame, and a new belt inserted endwise thereon.

The side channel members 16 of the tail gate frame are, as shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 3A, slidably-adjustably carried on the side rails 11 and are secured in an adjusted relation by spring-pressed latch pins of a pair of latch assemblies 38. The pin of each assembly 38 is adapted to extend into one of a series of longitudinally spaced-apart holes in the top flange of an associated side rail 11. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the tail gate frame 15 may be provided with a removable top cover 35 whose side ear portions 36 are adapted to fit between the side pairs of longitudinally spaced-apart angle-shaped mounting brackets 20. Each side ear portion 36 has a pair of slots or holes 36a therethrough to latch-engage with a corresponding inwardly projecting pin 20b of each bracket 20. A transversely-extending, vertical tab or apron portion 37 is mounted to extend underneath the cover 35 behind the driving pulley 27 and between it and the motor M, for the purpose of giving additional splash protection to the motor. The cover 35 may be inserted and removed by merely flexing the side ear portions 36 to engage and disengage the pins 20b.

The alignment of the belt 22 on the pulleys 27 and57 and tension of the drive chain 30 are adjusted by threaded cap screws 26 that have a threaded mounting in an associated end of a fixed shaft 28 on which roller 27 is mounted. In this connection, each screw 26 has an adjustable mounting within a side bore 25a of an associated shaft mounting bracket 25 (see FIGS. 2 and 3), and an adjustable mounting within a threaded bore 28a (see FIG. 23) that extends through an associated end of the fixed shaft 28 on which the roller 27 is journaled. As shown in FIG. 23, a pair of collars 28b retain the roller 27 in a central position on the shaft 28. Belt tension is adjusted by slidably-telescoping members 16 along rails 11 and pinning-in place or latching with latch assemblies 28 into holes or slots 11c.

Scraper assembly L (see FIGS. 2 and 23), like the drive motor M and the driven pulley 27, is mounted on and carried by the tail gate or secondary frame structure represented by the side members 16. Thus, by lifting the spring-pressed latch pins of the assemblies 38 out of detent holes 110, the motor, the driven pulley and the scraper assembly may all be removed as a unit for replacement or repair if desired. Also, the scraper assembly L may be removed as a unit from the secondary or tail gate frame by reason of its mounting on a pair of angle-shaped, side-positioned brackets 40. As shown in FIG. 23, the brackets 40 are secured to project inwardly from the side members 16 to receive tablike end portions 41a of a rod or shaft-like crossextending support member 41. Threaded bolts 42 removably-secure the tab portions 41a in place on the brackets 40.

The support rod or member 41 extends across the belt 22 and has a pair of rounded end portions 41b that carry a cooperating pair of mounting collars 43. Cross pins 410 limit maximum inward movement of the collars 43 along the support shaft or rod 41. A downwardly inclined pair of offset side arms 43b extend integrally downwardly from the pair of collars 43 and, at their lower ends, are removably secured by bolts 44 to a triangular-shaped base member 45. The base member 45 in turn carries a somewhat resilient fabric or rubberlike scraper blade 47 through the agency of a metal clamping piece 46 and mounting screws 46a. The scraper member 47 is more of a wiper in that it is adapted to engage the exposed inner side portion of the pulley 27 during its counterclockwise rotation to scrape it clean of any liquid or viscous material that may have been picked up thereby. A pair of longitudinally-extending support pieces 52 and 53 are at their tail ends secured as by welding on the base support member 45 and, at their forward ends, are secured as by welding to an angle-shaped, inclined, crossextending support piece or rail 54 for a tail scraper blade 55 that is removably mounted thereon by cap screws 55a. The scraper blade 55 is preferably of steel metal construction and engages the belt 22 on its underside, ahead of but adjacent to the driving pulley 27 to direct heavier accumulations of material towards and off one side of the belt 22.

An intermediate second, somewhat rigid scraper blade 50 of angle shape is carried by the forward end of the support platform member 45 and is removablysecured thereto by threaded screws or bolts 50a The scraper blade 50 has a triangular shape with its apex located substantially transversely centrally of the belt 22 to engage its underside after the engagement of the blade 55 therewith. The blade 50 of metal construction thus directs material centrally towards opposite sides of the belt 22, while the blade 55 directs the material along its forward inclination towards one side of the belt (when the belt 22 is moving counterclockwise as indicated by the arrows of FIG. 23). By reason of the fact that its two portions extend in an angular relation toward opposite side edges of the belt 22, the blade 50 tends to feed or deliver any residual material off the belt from both of its sides.

As shown particularly in FIG. 24, the assembly L is suspended in a free-floating relation with respect to the belt 22, since it has a pivot mounting of its collars 43 on the support rod 41. Thus, the balanced weight of the suspended frame L may be used to control the amount of scraping engagement of the blades 55, 50 and 47. If additional force of engagement of these three blade portions is desired, then a suitable weight providing member may be removably secured on either the base member 45 or across the connecting arm members 52 and 53.

Although the pulleys 27 and 57 are shown of substantially cylindrical or uniformly rounded contour at main area peripheral surface portions which are engaged by the continuous belt 22, it will be seen, as particularly illustrated in FIG. 5, that the belt is given a somewhat longitudinally projected U, valley-like or concave shape, as taken across its section, by the utilization of flexibly mounted groups or assemblies 0 of troughing or idler support rollers or wheels 60 and 61 of the same construction. A flexible, cable-like or axle or shaft 62 is removably mounted to extend across between inwardly bent or turned, upwardly projecting support feet 65 that are removably secured by boltand nut assemblies 64 to the side channels 1 1. It will be noted that the flexible shaft 62 is secured at each of its ends within a crimped sleeve end portion of a stud shaft 63. The hollow outer end portion 63a of each stud shaft 63 is threaded to receive nut and washerassemblies 64.for removably securing its end to project through an associated support foot 65.

The shaft 62 serves as a flexible mounting axle for individual roller elements or caster wheels 60 and 61. Each element 60 and 61 may be of solid metal, rubber or plastic construction with a central mounting hole portion therethrough that carries an inner race 60a and an outer race 60b. Spring washers 67a are positioned between side elements 61 and spiral expansion springs 67 are positioned between central elements 60 to abut the inner races 60a and prevent rotation of the rollers 60 and 61 on the cable 62, rather than between their inner and outer races 60a and 60b. The spring means 67 and 67a exerts an axial tension that functionally resists rotation of the races 60a on the axle 62. As shown by a broken-out portion of one of the roller wheels 60 in FIG. 8, a two-part roller bearing assembly is provided such that normal operative rotation of a wheel such as 60 or 61, as effected by movement of the driven belt 22 thereover, is one of minimized frictional resistance, since rotation is normally accomplished between outer or directwheel-carried race 60b about the inner race 60a whose rotation is being flexibly restrained. As shown in this figure, the outer race 60b is mounted or secured within the bore of the associated wheel.

FIG. 7 shows a modified construction in which resilient or elastic tubular material, such as synthetic or rubber sleeves 67" are used for the same purpose as the spring means 67 and 67a. The spring washers 67a and the spiral springs 67 also serve to flexibly maintain the elements 60 and 61 in a desired spaced-apart relation with respect to each other. The weight of the material being carried, the flexible nature of cable shaft 62 and the inward declination of the mounting feet 65, all serve to provide a central, longitudinally extending area within which material N may be carried with a minimum of side spillage or loss. In the modified construction of FIG. 7A, the springs 67 are shown replaced by additional caster wheels or roller elements 60' that have, in combination with the wheels 60, longer axle bushings to serve as spacers, see 60a.

As shown particularly in FIG. 5, a lower flight or level, belt-retum, idler pulley or roller 70 is provided in substantial vertical alignment with each flexible assembly of the upper belt carrying flight or level. Each pulley or roller 70 has a belt-supporting outer sleeve 70a and a hexagonal axle shaft 71 whose end portions extend into a pair of downwardly extending leg members 69 that may extend along an inner guide portion of the feet 65 and be secured to the side rail members 1 1 by the bolt and nut assemblies 66. This facilitates replacement. It will be noted that the shafts 71 are thus supported and carried by the side rails 11. Each roller 70 has a bearing assembly provided with an inner bearing sleeve or race 72 that has a hexagonal bore to float on the shaft 71. A bearing housing or cage 73 carries rollers 730 that ride on the race 72 and is reinforced by an end portion 73a. A flangelike end portion 73b has a press-fit about the outer periphery of the cage 73 and carries the belt-supporting sleeve of roller 70 thereon. A spiral expansion spring 74 bears against the sleeve race 72 to flexibly urge it outwardly on the shaft 71. A C-shaped cotter pin 74a extends into the shaft 71 to lock the inner end of the spring 74 in place. The pulley 70 can be removed from either end by depressing its axle shaft 71 through one side rail 11 and into the sleeve 70a, while moving the other end of the shaft 71 further into its associated side channel 11.

It will be noted that tension applied to the belt 22 causes it to assume the U-shape of FIG. 5 at the first flexible assembly 0 and to retain such a shape during its movement along the conveyor section such as A of FIG. 2, and until it engages head or front end pulley 57. It will also be noted, see FIGS. 1A, 11 and 12, that the hoppers P and Q are positioned where the belt 22 has initially attained a U or V-shape or adjacent the first roller assembly 0 of the particular conveyor section.

Each conveyor or transfer section, such as A, at one end has a floor stand or support structure, such as K and II, that carries the tail end portion thereof in a longitudinal sliding and a swiveling relation with respect thereto. The front end or head portion of each conveyor section is carried on a similar stand or support structure but in combination with a tail end portion of the next conveyor section (see the connection between A and B). As a result, the conveyor sections are longitudinally extensible and contractible and may be swiveled horizontally with respect to each other. The base support may be of the type of a U-shaped floor leg such as G of FIGS. 18A and 20 or a movable carriage type of support stand, such as H of FIGS. 1 and 18. The connection between adjacent conveyor sections if of an efficient flow type represented by the transfer assembly F.

As shown particularly in FIG. 25, the transfer assembly F includes a pair of especially constructed sidepositioned mounting brackets 75 that are removably secured by bolt and nut assemblies 78 to opposite side channels 11 adjacent the head or forward end portion of the conveyor section or frame. The brackets 75 serve to detachably suspend the transfer assembly and to facilitate ease of assembly and disassembly of its parts; it particularly provides a quick and efficient means for detachably adjustably suspending a scraper or wiper blade 95 and its assembly.

As particularly illustrated in FIG. 21, each bracket has a U-shaped, inwardly projecting, upwardly mounted, slotted, latch flange mount whose slotted or window portion 80a is adapted to receive a leg 83a of a spring-like metal clip piece or hood mounting bracket 83. The opposed side legs 83a of the clip 83 are adapted, as shown by the dot and dash lines and the arrow of FIG. 21, to be sprung inwardly for latchmounting within the slotted portion 800 of the latch flange 80 of each bracket 75, see the dot and dash lines and the arrow of FIG. 21. In this connection, each leg 83a has a notch or slot 830 in one edge and an abovealigned rib 83b along its outer side to latch-engage an adjacent inner edge of the associated flange 80. It will be noted that the notch 830 has a width that corresponds to the thickness of the flange 80 and, as shown in FIG. 25, the rib 83b limits the maximum entry of each leg 83a within the slotted portion 80 a. The spring clip or bracket member 83 extends upwardly and receives a bent-over or hook end portion 86 of a fabric or heavy rubber-like end hood 85 to removablysuspend it therefrom.

It will be noted in FIG. 25 that the hook portion 86 is secured as by bolts or metal screws 86a to inside of the hood 85 adjacent its upper open end or mouth, and that the hood 85 is of substantially right-angular shape, extending from a position at its open upper mouth over and in alignment with ends of the side rails 11 to, as shown by the arrows, direct a continuous movement of the material downwardly from the head pulley 57. To conserve the material and facilitate downward delivery, a scoop or boot member 97, also of somewhat rigid fabric, plastic or reinforced rubber material, is provided in an opposed relation with a downwardly projecting, front apron portion 85a of the hood 85 to provide a back-up for the cementitious material. It will be noted that the fabriclike boot 97 is of curved shape that is concave inwardly to cooperate with and close-off the open front side of the hood 85 below the forward head end portion of the associated conveyor section, and to receive material scraped-off the belt 22 by a scraper blade 95. The boot 97 is suspended from a structure further illustrated in FIGS. 13, 14 and 15 which includes a pair of vertically adjustable suspension bolts 90. Each bolt 90 has a head 90a that mounts it to extend upwardly through a hole in an end of a crossextending wiper blade support member 94. The stem of each bolt 90 extends along aligned open-end slots 77a and 79a of a pair of upper and lower, vertically spacedapart, inwardly extending mounting flanges 77 and 79 of an associated side bracket 75. The upper threaded end of each bolt 90 is adapted to receive a nut 91 and an enlarged grip head 92 to provide a thumb nut assembly. It will be noted that the upper flange 79 has an upturned end to retain the upper end of nut and bolt assembly 91, 92 on the associated bracket 75.

The support member 94 is bifurcated, since it has a pair of parts that are mounted in an opposed spacedapart relationship by spacer pieces 93, a central strap member 94a and a pair of angle-shaped mounting clips 96 that are all welded in position thereto. The.

construction thus provides an upwardly open slot within which cross-extending scraper blade 95 is positioned to, as shown in FIG. 25, engage the outer side of the belt 22 immediately adjacent the head pulley 57 and on the lower level or return flight of the belt. The clips 96 not only close-off the lower end of the slot in the member 94 to retain the blade 95, but also are inclined upwardly to removably receive the boot 97 that is secured thereto by bolt and nut assemblies 90.

It will be apparent that, as shown in FIG. 25, the outer side of the belt 22 is scraped clean of cementitious material underneath and adjacent the head pulley 57 at a location where the belt has been removed from its upper forward level or flight to its under return level or flight. Residual belt-adhering material is thus scraped into the boot 97 and moves downwardly along the main body of the material that is directed by the hood 85.

Referring to FIGS. 1, l8 and 25, the material delivery or transfer assembly F has a transfer frame that carries a ring assembly comprising rings 100 and 105, and that has upper and lower parts that are rotatably connected together by the rings. FIG. 25 particularly illustrates the upper part of the transfer frame that carries or suspends outer ring 100 from a forward head end portion of one conveyor section, and FIG. 18 which is taken at right angles to FIG. 25, particularly illustrates the lower part that carries the inner ring 105 and that is carried by side-positioned wheeled units K on the tail end portion of a second conveyor section. The outer ring, band or annulus 100 extends downwardly from the forward head end portion of each conveyor section or frame through the agency of the outwardly-projecting sidemounted brackets 75 which,as previously pointed out, also carry hood 85, scraper blade 95 and boot 97. A pair of vertically upwardly extending mounting rods 101 are weld-secured with strap members 102 on opposed sides of the ring 100, and with the rods extending upwardly through a hole portion 77b in the lower flange 77 of each associated mounting bracket 75. The mounting brackets 75 as bolt-secured to side rails 11 of the conveyor section thus provide a pair of transversely spaced-apart overhead mounts for the transfer assembly F. Each rod 101, as shown in FIG. 25, has a cross or through-extending hole 101a adjacent its upper end to receive a cotter pin or the like for securing it in position. Also, it will be noted'that a suitable vertically spaced relation is maintained between the forward end of the rails 11 and the suspended outer ring 100 by the strap members 102.

Inner ring, band or annulus 105 is positioned in a rotatable cooperating relation with the outer ring 100 by a series of outwardly positioned peripherally spacedapart short lengths of bars or rods 103 that are secured as by welding to the outer side of the inner ring 105 to rest upon the upper edge of the outer ring 100. A pair of outwardly-projecting hooks 105a are welded to the inner ring 105 adjacent its bottom edge to project outwardly therefrom along the bottom edge of the outer ring 100; they also serve to retain the rings in a cooperating, aligned, operating relation with respect to each other. As shown particularly in FIG. 25, the hooks 105a further serve to suspend transfer hopper Q through the agency of a pair of suspension chains 107 and 107'. A split ring 109 mounts the lower end of one chain 107 within an eye portion of an upwardly projecting lug 108 that" is centrally mounted on and weld-secured, as shown in FIG. 11, to a cross-extending pivot rod 110 and a front end wall 121 of the hopper Q. The upper end of the chain 107 is hooked over an associated hook 105a by means of an adjustment plate 1106. As shown in FIG. 11, the plate 106 has an upper eye portion to fit over the end of the hook 105:: and has a lower, keyshaped slot portion through which the chain 107 is adapted to extend and which enables it to be adjusted to a suitable position along its length and locked in position with respect to the plate. The other end portion of the hopper Q is carried by chain 107' through the agency of a split ring 109 that extends through an eye in its back wall 118 and through the agency of an adjustment plate 106 and a cooperating hook a.

A downwardly converging funnel 125 (see FIGS. 10 and 25) of a relatively heavy thickness of suitable metal, plastic, fabric or rubber-like material is adapted to rest upon the inner ring 105 and to project downwardly therefrom within the confines of the transfer hopper Q. A reinforcing metal top band 126 is secured about the upper periphery of the funnel 125 and has a series of outwardly projecting peripherally spacedapart angle pieces 127 which rest upon the upper edge of the inner band or ring 105 to serve as a removable means of support. The lower end of the funnel is reinforced by a metal band 128. Rivets are shown in FIG. 10 for securing ends of the material of the funnel 125 together vertically thereof and for securing the material to the bands 126 and 128.

Referring particularly to FIGS. 11 and 25, the transfer hopper Q of metal construction has a pair of downwardly inwardly sloped side walls 114, a similarly sloped and connecting back wall 118, and a connecting scoop or nose-shaped forwardly downwardly sloped front end wall 121 that has a small somewhat rectangular front delivery opening or mouth. The crossextending rod 110 is mounted adjacent the back upper end of the scoop-shaped front wall 121 by means of a pair of side-positioned, angle-shaped mounting brackets 111 and the central lug 108. As shown, the brackets 111 are secured as by welding to the side walls 114 to project upwardly therefrom and receive the rod 110. The rod 110 has a head 110a at one end and may be threaded at its other end to receive a mounting nut (not shown).

A pair of angle-shaped support or suspension arms 112 are, at their inner ends, pivotally and slidably mounted on the rod 110 to extend therefrom adjacent its opposite ends. Each arm 112 has a pin or post part 113 for removably-mounting it in a latching socket, as will be hereinafter described. A pair of longitudinally extending, side-positioned flaps or wiper blades 115 of a suitable rubber-like or resin material are positioned to extend downwardly in an inwardly-inclined relation from the lower edges of the side walls 114. Metal strap members 116 and screws or rivets 117 may be employed to mount the wiper flaps or blades 115. Lower edges of the blades 115 may have a slight upwardly spaced relation with respect to the upper surface of the conveyor belt 22 or may be in slidable engagement therewith; they serve to retain the cementitious material or grout being delivered within the side confines of the belt 22 until picked-up thereby and moved forwardly along its U-shaped central contour or valley.

Turret structure E at the delivery end of the system is particularly illustrated in FIGS. 1, l6 and 17. As shown, it is mounted on a bottom rotatable table, turret carriage or ring structure 164. The structure 164 has an inner ring or annular, band-shaped roller carrying member 180. A peripherally spaced series of tapered rollers or wheels 181 are rotatably mounted on nut and bolt assemblies 182 that extend from the ring 180. As shown particularly in FIGS. 16 and 21, the rollers 181 are adapted to conform in shape to one side of a channel-shaped outer guide member 183 also of ringlike or annular shape for rotative movement in a guided retained relation therealong. The channel-shaped ring guide member 183 is secured within a rectangular frame 184 defined by channel members and secured thereto at quadrant locations, as particularly illustrated in FIG. 17.

In providing the turret E, the inner ring member 180 of the carriage 164 has a surmounting channel-shaped member 176 secured thereto and from which a frame structure extends upwardly, see particularly FIGS. 1 and 16. The frame structure includes a pair of oppositely-positioned upwardly-extending main legs 175, a pair of diagonal reinforcing legs 177 for each main upright leg 175, and a reinforcing structure 189. A pair of rods 188 project inwardly from the diagonal members 177 to provide a support for cover plates (not shown), which may rest in an inclined relation on the reinforcing structure 189 which extends between main legs 175 and the upper frame 176. To lock the turret E in a suitable rotative positioning, particularly one of a series of four quadrant positions, the rectangular-shaped frame 184 (see FIGS. 16 and 17) is provided with latch hole portions 184a extending through a top flange of its members. Also, one leg 175, as shown by the dotted lines of FIG. 1 and the full lines of FIG. 16, has a pair of outwardly projecting lugs 178 provided with an angle-shaped latch pin 185 that may be lifted upwardly along aligned holes in the lugs and thus, out of an aligned hole 184a in the frame 184 to permit the turret carriage 164 to be rotated to and locked in different positions.

A forwardly-projecting cage-like mounting frame or cradle E is rotatably mounted on the legs 175 of turret E by means of a pair of horizontal stub shafts or pins 187 and cooperating journaling sleeves 179 that are carried by the legs 175 (see With reference to FIGS. 1,17 and 19A, a pair of endpositioned roller carriages or units 157 have been provided for the rotatable carriage assembly 164 and the turret E to enable the turret to be moved longitudinally along a pair of track members 154, such as carried by platform J. Each roller unit 157 has a vertical mounting pin 159 projecting upwardly therefrom and rotatablycarried within a sleeve socket that is secured within an adjacent corner portion of the rectangular frame 184. Each unit 157 has, as shown particularly in FIG. 19A, a U-shaped or bifurcated mounting member or carriage structure 158 whose opposed side walls each carries a pair of track wheels 160 by means of nut and bolt assemblies 161 on which they are rotatably mounted and by which they are secured to the carriage frame 158. Each side wall of the mounting member or carriage 158 has a pair of the wheels 160 that oppose a pair carried by the other side wall thereof. The wheels 160 fit within opposite sides of an associated I-beam shaped rail member 154 of the structure J. A threaded lock screw 161a is adjustably-carried to extend from an outer side wall 158 of the carriage 157 to engage the web of the rail 154 to lock each wheeled unit 157 in a suitable position therealong.

Also, each corner of the rectangular frame 184 has, as particularly illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 17, a pair of comer extension pieces 166 welded thereto that carry a socket 166a. A stabilizer leg 167 has a bifurcated upper or inner end portion 168 adapted to fit over the socket 166a and has a vertical hole for alignment therewith and through which a latch pin 169 may be detachably mounted. The pin 169 thus provides a pivotal connection between each leg 167 and the associated connected end of the frame 184. As particularly illustrated in FIG. 1, the outer end of each leg 167 is provided with an integral, open-end sleeve or socket 170 that is adapted to slide up and down on a vertical upright member 172. Each member 172 is adapted to rest .on the floor or ground and has suitable vertically spacedapart cross-extending holes 172a therein to bypass the end of a latch pin 171 therethrough. Also, each collar 170 has a pair of holes 170a therethrough for alternatively receiving the latch pin 171. In this manner the height of the outer end of each leg 167 may be adjusted as desired.

Although the turret E may be positioned on the rails on a ground level, a better more flexible delivery of the material through the agency of its conveyor frame D is accomplished by mounting it on the rail platform J.

The rail platform J may, as shown in FIG. 1, be employed for supporting a rail cart, truck or carriage type of support stand H of the conveyor section C, whose construction is illustrated in FIGS. 18 and 19, and whose wheeled carriages 157 are the same as those of the turret table 164 of FIG. 17 and are thus also illustrated in FIG. 19A. As illustrated, the front end of the conveyor section B and the tail end of the section C may be supported on track-mounted carriage support H of FIGS. 18 and 23 or on a stationary floor stand structure, such as provided by inverted U-shaped legs or supports G of FIGS. 18A and 20. That is, an upper frame part 130 of the support is constructed so that it may be used with either type of bottom support by the use of latching plug and socket assemblies 151, 152 and 153. FIG. 20 illustrates the use of stationary floor members, such as G, while FIGS. 18 and 19 illustrate the use of carriage structure H for movement along an overhead track platform such as J.

The upper frame 130, whether it is supported on stationary stands G or on truck carriage H is of the same construction. A lower supporting cross member 148 of rectangular section is pivotally connected by bolt and nut assembly 149 and separating washers 150 to horizontally swingably carry the upper frame 130 and to latch-engage with either type of bottom support. As shown particularly in FIG. 18, upper rectangular frame 130 is made up of a pair of hollow vertical or upright legs 131, a cross-extending connecting bottom leg 147 and an upper ring or annular band 105. The ring is weld-secured at its ends by a pair of horizontal pieces 133 to upper ends 132a of a pair of threaded jack screws 132. As shown, each jack screw 132 has a hand nut 134 threadably mounted thereon and adapted to engage the upper end of a leg 131 through the agency of a collar 134a. Thus, rotation of the hand nuts 134 in one direction will provide upward movement of the jack screws 132 within the legs 131 and an opposite rotation will provide lowering movement. It will be noted that the ring 105 is employed to support a funnel such as of FIG. 25 and to cooperate with an outer ring such as 100 and its suspended transfer hopper Q.

Each leg 131 carries a pivot disc and pin assembly 137 that is fixed thereto as by welding. The pin of assembly 137 rotatably receives a latch socket that has an integral disc or washer 138 that is rotatably mounted on the end of the pin. Each socket 135 is adapted to receive a tubular post or pin 113 of a transfer hopper Q (see FIG. 1) to suspend the hopper between the legs 131. Thus, the pair of arms 112 pivotally suspend the transfer hopper Q from the legs 131 of the frame shown in FIG. 18. In this manner, a complete transfer delivery assembly may be provided between the cooperating ends of the conveyor sections B and C. The frame 130 also has a side rail engaging pair of carriage or wheeled units K that permit it to be moved longitudinally along the side rails 11 of conveyor section C.

As shown particularly in FIGS. 18 and 19, a socket 151 and a latch pin assembly 153 is carried at each end of the support member 148 to, as previously indicated, either receive a carriage frame, such as H of FIGS. 1 and 18 or direct floor mounting legs, such as G of FIGS. 18A and 20. It will be noted that stand leg G has a central upwardly-extending pin or post 152 that has a cross-extending hole 152a for receiving the pin of latch pin assembly 153. Also, as shown in FIGS. 18 and 19, carriage frame H has a pair of hollow upright legs 155 that have an upwardly-projecting pin or post 156 secured thereto to fit within an associated socket 151. A cross-extending hole is provided in each post 156 for receiving a latch pin of a latch pin assembly 153. The

legs 155 are connected by suitable cross-extending rods- 155a. The carriage frame H (see FIG. 19) has sockets 165 at its comers that are secured thereto for receiving upright pins 159 of an associated carriage unit 157, as removably mounted therein by a cross-extending cotter pin 159a.

Referring to FIG. 16, the turret E also has mounts that correspond to those of the frame 130 of FIG. 18 that are used for supporting or pivotally-suspending a transfer hopper Q. The parts which are similar to those previously described in FIG. 22 have been given prime affixes. The only difference is that primary or fixed parts 137 of the structure of FIG. 16 have extension arms 137a by reason of the wider spacing between the legs 175 as compared to the legs 131.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 1A and particularly in FIGS. 8, 9 and 18, each wheeled unit K and corresponding unit K has upper and lower pairs of flanged wheels 142 and 144, respectively. Each channel-shaped side rail 11 has its flanges facing sideways of the conveyor frame, and the upper and lower flanges are respectively provided with in-turned edges or rim portions 11a and 11b that are adapted to ride on the flanged wheels 142 and 144, with their outer sides in a cooperative guided relation with the flanges of such wheels, see FIG. 9. As shown, the upper and lower pair of wheels 142 and 144 of each unit K or K is rotatably mounted by nut and bolt assemblies 143 and 145 on a channel-shaped piece or member 140 whose flanges face towards and are spaced above and below the flanges of the associated side channel 11. A bolt and nut assembly 141 is shown mounting the units K or K on upright or vertical legs 131 of an associated frame 130. As shown particularly in FIG. 8, the upper flanged wheels 142 have a horizon- -tally spaced relation with respect to each other longitudinally of the frame 130 which is greater than the horizontal-longitudinal spacing of the lower pair of rollers 144, such as to provide an offset or staggered relation between the upper and lower pairs.

For moving the conveyor frame D longitudinally inwardly and outwardly on the side wheeled units K, a pair of spaced-apart adjustable C-clamps 204 (see FIG.

1) are secured over the side rails 11 and have an eyelet 204a projecting upwardly therefrom. A cable 203 is connected at its opposite ends to the eyelets 204a and is looped or interleaved around a reel or sheave 202 that is securely mounted on a right angle drive shaft 201 of an electric motor M (see FIG. 1). The motor M is secured by a mounting housing 200 on an upper side of the cage-like frame E. Thus, rotation of the motor M in one direction will cause the cable 203 to pull the conveyor frame D backwardly with respect to the frame E and rotation in an opposite direction will cause it to pull the conveyor section forwardly with respect to the frame E.

As shown in FIG. 1, the mounting frame E, itself, is

adapted to be swung or pivoted on a horizontal axis represented by cross-extending pivot shaft 187 which is journaled within bearings 179 of the legs 177, see FIGS. 16. As shown in FIG. 1, the frame E may have a group of crane-lift attaching posts 206. Remote electrical controls, not shown, may be provided for the motors M M and M which may be energized through a cable carried on a pay-out reel 186 that is carried by the turret E. Employing the transfer assembly illustrated, belt speeds of 700 to 750 r.p.m. and higher are practical, with an optimum of about 752 r.p.m.

With reference to FIGS. 2 and 5, it will be noted that the continuous conveyor belt 22 extends along and between the side rails 11 of the associated conveyor frame and is actuated by motor-driven pulley 27 that is operatively carried on and adjacent one end of the frame and that carries one or the rear loop end of the belt. Head pulley 57 is operatively carried adjacent the other end of the frame and receives an opposite or front loop end of the belt. The flexible, upper, crossextending pulley assemblies 0 are operatively mounted along an upper reach of the frame in a longitudinallyspaced relation with respect to each other and between the driven and head pulleys for engaging an inner side of the belt 22 in its forward movement along the frame. Lower, cross-extending, relatively rigid tubular pulleys are mounted along the lower reach of the frame, also in a longitudinally spaced relation, to engage an inner side of the belt during its return movement. With particular reference to FIG. 5, it will be seen that the tubular pulleys 70 may be easily inserted and removed by compressing the spring 74 at one end thereof to move the adjacent end of the shaft 71 further into its mounting in the associated leg member 69 so as to clear the other shaft from its associated mounting leg member 69. The use of anti-friction bearings 73c minimizes the power required for moving the belt 22 along the conveyor frame. When one of the springs 74 is compressed this permits its associated bearing 72 to be moved inwardly out of engagement with a corresponding side rail member 11 to thus permit a greater insertion of the corresponding end of the shaft 71 within such side rail member 11 and permit removal of the other end of the shaft 71 out of its associated side rail member 11.

The claims:

1. In a conveyor apparatus provided with a conveyor section having a longitudinally extending cementitiouslike material-carrying continuous conveyor belt therealong for receiving material at a tail end portion of the section and for moving the material along and delivering it from a front head end portion of the section, and wherein the conveyor section has a pair of transversely spaced-apart longitudinally extending side rails and has a head roller at the front head end portion thereof and a tail roller at the tail end portion thereof that are operatively mounted between the rails for supporting and advancing the continuous belt therealong; the combination of a transfer assembly at the front head end portion of the section, said transfer assembly comprising: a ring-shaped mounting member, a second ring member carried in a suspended relation from the front end portion of the conveyor section and rotatably cooperating with and supporting said ring-shaped mounting member to define a ring assembly; hood, boot and scraper means carried by the front'head end portion of the conveyor section, said hood extending forwardly downwardly from the front end portion and said boot means extending downwardly from beneath the front end portion in an opposed-spaced relation with respect to said hood means, a funnel, means removably suspending said funnel from said ring assembly in substantial alignment with a lower end of said boot and said hood means, a hopper, and means detachably and adjustably suspending said hopper from said ring-shaped mounting member in substantial vertical alignment with the lower end of said funnel for turning movement with said ring-shaped mounting member.

2. In an apparatus as defined in claim 1, said hood means having an upper open mouth portion facing towards the front head end portion of the conveyor section and having an open bottom portion, a pair of mounting brackets, one of brackets being secured to project outwardly from one side rail at the front head end portion of the section and the other of said brackets being secured to project outwardly in an opposed relation from the other side rail of the section, mounting means removably positioned to extend upwardly from said pair of brackets to support and position said hood means in a spaced relation forwardly of the front head end portion of the section, a cross-extending carrier member for said scraper means being sidewiseremovably suspended from said pair of brackets adja-- cent the head roller, said carrying member having means for holding said scraper means in a crossextending scraping position with respect to the belt, and said ring assembly being removably suspended from said brackets beneath the front head end portion of the section in alignment with and about the open bottom portion of said hood means.

3. In a conveyor apparatus as defined in claim 1, a pair of brackets secured to the side rail members of the front head end portion of the conveyor section, a pair of vertically extending rod members removably adjustably suspended from said brackets, a transverse support carried by lower ends of said rods adjacent to and within said boot means, and said scraper means having a transversely extending wiper blade operatively carried by said transverse support to engage the continuous belt of the conveyor section for scraping-off material therefrom.

4. In a conveyor apparatus as defined in claim 3, said transverse support defining an open-end slot therealong, and said wiper blade having means loosely positioning it within said open-end slot to extend therefrom into engagement with the belt.

5. In a conveyor apparatus as defined in claim 3, the head and tail roller means operatively positioning the continuous belt for advancing movement from the tail end portion to the front head end portion and along an upper level of the conveyor section and for return movement along a lower level of the conveyor section, said wiper blade being mounted by said transverse support within said boot means to engage an outer surface of the belt at a position at which it has been turned on the head roller for return movement along the section to scrape-off material therefrom into said hood means, and said boot means being mounted to extend from the front head end portion downwardly towards said funnel in an opposed position with respect to said hood for directing flow of scraped-off material from the belt at the front head end portion of the section.

6. In a conveyor apparatus as defined in claim 1, said boot means being curved and secured to and suspended from said carrier member to at its lower end extend within the upper end portion of said funnel and in a backwardly spaced and opposed closing-off relation with a front end portion of said hood means and about said scraper means to guide material removed by said scraper means downwardly into said funnel.

7. In a conveyor apparatus as defined in claim 6, said suspending means for said hopper being chain means detachably suspending said hopper from a member of said ring. assembly, said hopper having a pair of inwardly downwardly declining opposed side walls and an inwardly downwardly declining connecting back end wall defining an open bottom portion, said hopper also having a forwardly sloped and nose-like front end wall connected with said side walls and defining an open mouth portion adjacent its front end, a pair of wiper blades secured to and projecting downwardly from said side walls and widening the open mouth portion defined by said front end wall, a central crossextending support structure of said hopper extending thereabove, a pair of support arms pivotally mounted on and projecting upwardly from said support structure, a frame structure secured to a second member of said ring assembly and projecting downwardly therefrom, said frame structure having a pair of transversely spaced-apart sockets, and said pair of support arms being detachably carried at their ends by said sockets.

8. In a conveyor apparatus provided with a conveyor section having a longitudinally extending cementitiouslike material-carrying continuous conveyor belt therealong for receiving material at a tail end portion of the section and for moving the material along and delivering it from a front head end portion of the section, and wherein the conveyor section has a pair of transversely spaced-apart longitudinally extending side rails and has a head roller at the front head end portion thereof and a tail roller at the tail end portion thereof that are operatively mounted between the rails for supporting and advancing the continuous belt therealong; the combination of a transfer assembly at the front head end portion of the section, said transfer assembly comprising: a ring-shaped mounting member, a second ring member carried in a suspended relation from the front end portion of the conveyor section and rotatably cooperating with and supporting said ring-shaped mounting member to define a ring assembly; hood, boot and scraper means carried by the front head end portion of the conveyor section, a funnel removably suspended from said ring assembly in substantial alignment with a lower end of said hood means, a hopper detachably and adjustably suspended from said ring-shaped mounting member in substantial vertical alignment with the lower end of said funnel for turning movement with said ringshaped mounting member, a floor mount for supporting the conveyor section, a group of flexible upper cross-extending pulley assemblies operatively mounted along upper reaches of the conveyor section in a longitudinally spaced-apart relation with respect to each other between the tail and head rollers for engaging an underside of the continuous belt during its forward movement along the conveyor section, a group of lower cross-extending relatively rigid tubular pulleys operatively mounted along lower reaches of the conveyor section in a longitudinally spaced relation with respect to each other and between the head and tail rollers for engaging under the continuous belt during its return movement along the conveyor section, and said lower group of pulleys having flexible means cooperating with the side rails for providing endwise insertion and removal from the conveyor section.

9. In a conveyor apparatus as defined in claim 8, each of said flexible pulley assemblies comprising: a cablelike cross-extending shaft having a central-downward U-shaped positioning between the side rails of the conveyor section, and a group of caster wheels journaled on said cable and having means for retaining the wheels in a substantially fixed angularly positioned relation with respect to each other on said shaft.

10. In a conveyor apparatus as defined in claim 9, said retaining means being flexible and extending along said shaft to position adjacent wheels in a spaced-apart relation with respect to each other.

11. In a conveyor apparatus as defined in claim 8, each of said lower pulleys having a cross-extending tubular member for engaging the continuous belt, a cross-extending shaft projecting centrally along said tubular member and projecting transversely outwardly with respect to end portions thereof, bearing means slidably carried on said shaft at opposite end portions thereof and maintaining said shaft in position on the side rails in supporting engagement with opposite ends of said tubular member, and flexible means at each end of said shaft engaging said bearing means for urging it outwardly on said shaft.

12. In an improved conveyor apparatus provided with a section having a longitudinal material-carrying continuous conveyor belt therealong for receiving material at a tail end portion thereof and for moving the material along and delivering it from a front end portion thereof, wherein the section has a pair of transversely spaced-apart longitudinally extending side rails and a head roller at the front end portion thereof and a tail roller at the tail end portion thereof that are operatively mounted between the side rails for positioning and advancing the continuous belt therealong, and wherein transfer means is provided at the front end portion of the section; the combination of, crossextending longitudinally spaced-apart frame members secured between the pair of side rails, a group of longitudinally spaced-apart pulleys rotatably mounted to extend between the pair of side rails for receiving and guiding the continuous conveyor belt between the tail and head rollers, a tail gate for tail end portions of the pair of side rails, connecting means between opposite ends of said tail gate and each of the side rails of the pair for mounting said tail gate in a transverse crossextending position therebetween, a motor mounted on said tail gate, drive means operatively connecting said motor to the tail roller for driving said roller when said tail gate is in the defined mounted position between the pair of side rails, and said connecting means detachably mounting one end of said tail gate on one of the side rails and pivotally mounting the other end of said tail gate on the other side rail for swingable movement with respect to the tail roller.

13. In an improved conveyor apparatus as defined in claim 12 wherein, the pair of side rails have a slide frame at their tail end portions that defines an endwiseadjustable extension of the pair of side rails, and said tail gate is carried by said slide frame.

14. In an improved conveyor apparatus as defined in claim 13 wherein, means mounts the tail roller on said slide frame for movement therewith.

15. In an improved conveyor apparatus as defined in claim 14 wherein, said slide frame has a pair of trans versely spaced-apart secondary side rails that slidably engage the first-mentioned pair of side rails, and means cooperates with the first-mentioned pair of side rails and said secondary side rails for latching said slide frame in an endwise-adjusted position with respect to .the first mentioned pair of side rails.

16. In an improved conveyor apparatus as defined in claim 14 wherein said mounting means for the tail roller has means for adjusting the position of the tail roller with respect to said motor on said slide frame.

17. In an improved conveyor apparatus provided with a section having a longitudinal material-carrying continuous conveyor belt therealong for receiving material at a tail end portion thereof and for moving the material along and delivering it from a front end portion thereof, wherein the section has a pair of transversely spaced-apart longitudinally extending side rails and a head roller at a front end portion thereof and a tail roller at a tail end portion thereof that are operatively mounted between the side rails for positioning and advancing the continuous belt therealong, and wherein transfer means is provided at the front end portion of the section; the combination of, crossextending longitudinally spaced-apart frame members secured between the pair of side rails, a group of longitudinally spaced-apart pulleys rotatably mounted to extend between the pair of side rails for receiving and guiding the continuous conveyor belt between the tail and head rollers, a tail gate for tail end portions of the pair of side rails, connecting means between opposite ends of said tail gate and each of the side rails of the pair for mounting said tail gate in a transverse crossextending position therebetween, a motor mounted on said tail gate, drive means operatively connecting said motor to the tail roller for driving said roller when said tail gate is in the defined mounted position between the pair of side rails, said connecting means having one assembly detachably mounting one end of said tail gate on one side rail of the pair, and said connecting means having a second assembly mounting the other end of said tail gate on the other side rail for initial inward swingable movement towards the tail roller to enable removal of said drive means from operative connection between said motor and the tail roller and then for swinging movement outwardly to enable removal of the conveyor belt sidewise from its operating positioning on the head and tail rollers.

18. In a conveyor apparatus as defined in claim 17 wherein each said assembly of said connecting means has means detachably securing said tail gate to an associated side rail of the pair and is constructed for the defined inward and outward swingable movement on its and said chain is removable from said sprockets when the tail gate is initially swung inwardly towards the tail roller about one of said assemblies after the other of said assemblies has been detached with respect to its associated side rail.

* i II! t 

1. In a conveyor apparatus provided with a conveyor section having a longitudinally extending cementitious-like materialcarrying continuous conveyor belt therealong for receiving material at a tail end portion of the section and for moving the material along and delivering it from a front head end portion of the section, and wherein the conveyor section has a pair of transversely spaced-apart longitudinally extending side rails and has a head roller at the front head end portion thereof and a tail roller at the tail end portion thereof that are operatively mounted between the rails for supporting and advancing the continuous belt therealong; the combination of a transfer assembly at the front head end portion of the section, said transfer assembly comprising: a ring-shaped mounting member, a second ring member carried in a suspended relation from the front end portion of the conveyor section and rotatably cooperating with and supporting said ring-shaped mounting member to define a ring assembly; hood, boot and scraper means carried by the front head end portion of the conveyor section, said hood extending forwardly downwardly from the front end portion and said boot means extending downwardly from beneath the front end portion in an opposed-spaced relation with respect to said hood means, a funnel, means removably suspending said funnel from said ring assembly in substantial alignment with a lower end of said boot and said hood means, a hopper, and means detachably and adjustably suspending said hopper from said ring-shaped mounting member in substantial vertical alignment with the lower end of said funnel for turning movement with said ring-shaped mounting member.
 2. In an apparatus as defined in claim 1, said hood means having an upper open mouth portion facing towards the front head end portion of the conveyor section and having an open bottom portion, a pair of mounting brackets, one of said bRackets being secured to project outwardly from one side rail at the front head end portion of the section and the other of said brackets being secured to project outwardly in an opposed relation from the other side rail of the section, mounting means removably positioned to extend upwardly from said pair of brackets to support and position said hood means in a spaced relation forwardly of the front head end portion of the section, a cross-extending carrier member for said scraper means being sidewise-removably suspended from said pair of brackets adjacent the head roller, said carrying member having means for holding said scraper means in a cross-extending scraping position with respect to the belt, and said ring assembly being removably suspended from said brackets beneath the front head end portion of the section in alignment with and about the open bottom portion of said hood means.
 3. In a conveyor apparatus as defined in claim 1, a pair of brackets secured to the side rail members of the front head end portion of the conveyor section, a pair of vertically extending rod members removably adjustably suspended from said brackets, a transverse support carried by lower ends of said rods adjacent to and within said boot means, and said scraper means having a transversely extending wiper blade operatively carried by said transverse support to engage the continuous belt of the conveyor section for scraping-off material therefrom.
 4. In a conveyor apparatus as defined in claim 3, said transverse support defining an open-end slot therealong, and said wiper blade having means loosely positioning it within said open-end slot to extend therefrom into engagement with the belt.
 5. In a conveyor apparatus as defined in claim 3, the head and tail roller means operatively positioning the continuous belt for advancing movement from the tail end portion to the front head end portion and along an upper level of the conveyor section and for return movement along a lower level of the conveyor section, said wiper blade being mounted by said transverse support within said boot means to engage an outer surface of the belt at a position at which it has been turned on the head roller for return movement along the section to scrape-off material therefrom into said hood means, and said boot means being mounted to extend from the front head end portion downwardly towards said funnel in an opposed position with respect to said hood for directing flow of scraped-off material from the belt at the front head end portion of the section.
 6. In a conveyor apparatus as defined in claim 1, said boot means being curved and secured to and suspended from said carrier member to at its lower end extend within the upper end portion of said funnel and in a backwardly spaced and opposed closing-off relation with a front end portion of said hood means and about said scraper means to guide material removed by said scraper means downwardly into said funnel.
 7. In a conveyor apparatus as defined in claim 6, said suspending means for said hopper being chain means detachably suspending said hopper from a member of said ring assembly, said hopper having a pair of inwardly downwardly declining opposed side walls and an inwardly downwardly declining connecting back end wall defining an open bottom portion, said hopper also having a forwardly sloped and nose-like front end wall connected with said side walls and defining an open mouth portion adjacent its front end, a pair of wiper blades secured to and projecting downwardly from said side walls and widening the open mouth portion defined by said front end wall, a central cross-extending support structure of said hopper extending thereabove, a pair of support arms pivotally mounted on and projecting upwardly from said support structure, a frame structure secured to a second member of said ring assembly and projecting downwardly therefrom, said frame structure having a pair of transversely spaced-apart sockets, and said pair of support arms being detachably carried at Their ends by said sockets.
 8. In a conveyor apparatus provided with a conveyor section having a longitudinally extending cementitious-like material-carrying continuous conveyor belt therealong for receiving material at a tail end portion of the section and for moving the material along and delivering it from a front head end portion of the section, and wherein the conveyor section has a pair of transversely spaced-apart longitudinally extending side rails and has a head roller at the front head end portion thereof and a tail roller at the tail end portion thereof that are operatively mounted between the rails for supporting and advancing the continuous belt therealong; the combination of a transfer assembly at the front head end portion of the section, said transfer assembly comprising: a ring-shaped mounting member, a second ring member carried in a suspended relation from the front end portion of the conveyor section and rotatably cooperating with and supporting said ring-shaped mounting member to define a ring assembly; hood, boot and scraper means carried by the front head end portion of the conveyor section, a funnel removably suspended from said ring assembly in substantial alignment with a lower end of said hood means, a hopper detachably and adjustably suspended from said ring-shaped mounting member in substantial vertical alignment with the lower end of said funnel for turning movement with said ring-shaped mounting member, a floor mount for supporting the conveyor section, a group of flexible upper cross-extending pulley assemblies operatively mounted along upper reaches of the conveyor section in a longitudinally spaced-apart relation with respect to each other between the tail and head rollers for engaging an underside of the continuous belt during its forward movement along the conveyor section, a group of lower cross-extending relatively rigid tubular pulleys operatively mounted along lower reaches of the conveyor section in a longitudinally spaced relation with respect to each other and between the head and tail rollers for engaging under the continuous belt during its return movement along the conveyor section, and said lower group of pulleys having flexible means cooperating with the side rails for providing endwise insertion and removal from the conveyor section.
 9. In a conveyor apparatus as defined in claim 8, each of said flexible pulley assemblies comprising: a cablelike cross-extending shaft having a central-downward U-shaped positioning between the side rails of the conveyor section, and a group of caster wheels journaled on said cable and having means for retaining the wheels in a substantially fixed angularly positioned relation with respect to each other on said shaft.
 10. In a conveyor apparatus as defined in claim 9, said retaining means being flexible and extending along said shaft to position adjacent wheels in a spaced-apart relation with respect to each other.
 11. In a conveyor apparatus as defined in claim 8, each of said lower pulleys having a cross-extending tubular member for engaging the continuous belt, a cross-extending shaft projecting centrally along said tubular member and projecting transversely outwardly with respect to end portions thereof, bearing means slidably carried on said shaft at opposite end portions thereof and maintaining said shaft in position on the side rails in supporting engagement with opposite ends of said tubular member, and flexible means at each end of said shaft engaging said bearing means for urging it outwardly on said shaft.
 12. In an improved conveyor apparatus provided with a section having a longitudinal material-carrying continuous conveyor belt therealong for receiving material at a tail end portion thereof and for moving the material along and delivering it from a front end portion thereof, wherein the section has a pair of transversely spaced-apart longitudinally extending side rails and a head roller at the front end portion thereof and a tail roller at the tail end portion thereOf that are operatively mounted between the side rails for positioning and advancing the continuous belt therealong, and wherein transfer means is provided at the front end portion of the section; the combination of, cross-extending longitudinally spaced-apart frame members secured between the pair of side rails, a group of longitudinally spaced-apart pulleys rotatably mounted to extend between the pair of side rails for receiving and guiding the continuous conveyor belt between the tail and head rollers, a tail gate for tail end portions of the pair of side rails, connecting means between opposite ends of said tail gate and each of the side rails of the pair for mounting said tail gate in a transverse cross-extending position therebetween, a motor mounted on said tail gate, drive means operatively connecting said motor to the tail roller for driving said roller when said tail gate is in the defined mounted position between the pair of side rails, and said connecting means detachably mounting one end of said tail gate on one of the side rails and pivotally mounting the other end of said tail gate on the other side rail for swingable movement with respect to the tail roller.
 13. In an improved conveyor apparatus as defined in claim 12 wherein, the pair of side rails have a slide frame at their tail end portions that defines an endwise-adjustable extension of the pair of side rails, and said tail gate is carried by said slide frame.
 14. In an improved conveyor apparatus as defined in claim 13 wherein, means mounts the tail roller on said slide frame for movement therewith.
 15. In an improved conveyor apparatus as defined in claim 14 wherein, said slide frame has a pair of transversely spaced-apart secondary side rails that slidably engage the first-mentioned pair of side rails, and means cooperates with the first-mentioned pair of side rails and said secondary side rails for latching said slide frame in an endwise-adjusted position with respect to the first mentioned pair of side rails.
 16. In an improved conveyor apparatus as defined in claim 14 wherein said mounting means for the tail roller has means for adjusting the position of the tail roller with respect to said motor on said slide frame.
 17. In an improved conveyor apparatus provided with a section having a longitudinal material-carrying continuous conveyor belt therealong for receiving material at a tail end portion thereof and for moving the material along and delivering it from a front end portion thereof, wherein the section has a pair of transversely spaced-apart longitudinally extending side rails and a head roller at a front end portion thereof and a tail roller at a tail end portion thereof that are operatively mounted between the side rails for positioning and advancing the continuous belt therealong, and wherein transfer means is provided at the front end portion of the section; the combination of, cross-extending longitudinally spaced-apart frame members secured between the pair of side rails, a group of longitudinally spaced-apart pulleys rotatably mounted to extend between the pair of side rails for receiving and guiding the continuous conveyor belt between the tail and head rollers, a tail gate for tail end portions of the pair of side rails, connecting means between opposite ends of said tail gate and each of the side rails of the pair for mounting said tail gate in a transverse cross-extending position therebetween, a motor mounted on said tail gate, drive means operatively connecting said motor to the tail roller for driving said roller when said tail gate is in the defined mounted position between the pair of side rails, said connecting means having one assembly detachably mounting one end of said tail gate on one side rail of the pair, and said connecting means having a second assembly mounting the other end of said tail gate on the other side rail for initial inward swingable movement towards the tail roller to enable removal of said drive means from operative connection between said Motor and the tail roller and then for swinging movement outwardly to enable removal of the conveyor belt sidewise from its operating positioning on the head and tail rollers.
 18. In a conveyor apparatus as defined in claim 17 wherein each said assembly of said connecting means has means detachably securing said tail gate to an associated side rail of the pair and is constructed for the defined inward and outward swingable movement on its associated side rail when the other said assembly is detached with respect to its associated side rail.
 19. In a conveyor apparatus as defined in claim 17 wherein, said drive means is a continuous chain, the tail roller and said motor have sprockets for operatively receiving said chain thereon when said tail gate is in its defined mounted position between the pair of side rails, and said chain is removable from said sprockets when the tail gate is initially swung inwardly towards the tail roller about one of said assemblies after the other of said assemblies has been detached with respect to its associated side rail. 